AUSTIN — Former Texas women's track and field coach Bev Kearney has filed claims of race- and gender-based discrimination against the school with federal and state officials, her attorney said Saturday.

Austin lawyer Derek Howard said he filed claims on Kearney's behalf with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Texas Workforce Commission on Tuesday. Howard says UT discriminated against Kearney, who is black, by suspending her last fall for a consensual relationship with an adult student-athlete a decade earlier, and then by forcing her to resign in January.

Howard said he and Kearney know of “in excess of 10” similar relationships between UT staffers and subordinates, including but not limited to the athletic department. When Kearney files a lawsuit against UT — which she can do 180 days after Tuesday's filing date — those staffers will be subpoenaed, Howard said.

“They'll be on the hot seat,” Howard said.

When Kearney resigned in January, UT officials said they were prepared to fire her, citing university rules discouraging relationships with students and requiring staffers to immediately report them if they occurred. UT did not learn of Kearney's relationship until last fall, 10 years after it allegedly ended in 2003.

In a statement released Saturday, UT vice president for legal affairs Patti Ohlendorf said Kearney's “allegations of discrimination will be reviewed thoroughly and responded to according to EEOC and Texas Workforce Commission procedures.”

“As Coach Kearney was told by the university, the relationship that she had with the student-athlete is unprofessional and crosses the line of trust placed in the head coach for all aspects of the athletic program and the best interests of the student-athletes on the team,” Ohlendorf said. “The university reviews allegations and reports of unprofessional relationships on a case-by-case basis and did so after the relationship was reported to the athletics administration last fall.”

In February, UT acknowledged that assistant football coach Major Applewhite had been reprimanded in 2009 for an “inappropriate” one-time incident with a student trainer.

But because he admitted to his behavior within a month of it taking place, Applewhite was not suspended or dismissed.

Howard said UT's handling of the Applewhite case — and others — is essential to Kearney's claim of discrimination.

“We're basing this on Bev being treated differently than men in the department,” Howard said.

Last week, the San Antonio Express-News obtained the personnel files of both UT athletic directors, every Longhorns' head coach and dozens of assistant coaches. No records of reprimands were found in any file besides Applewhite's.

But Howard said even if there is no written record of other inappropriate relationships in the department, that doesn't mean they didn't occur.

Kearney's discrimination claim comes at an interesting time for UT's legal team. Barry Burgdorf, the vice chancellor and general counsel for the UT System, resigned two weeks ago.